A much-loved family cat missing for 11 years has been reunited with its owner after being spotted on a Facebook page.
Stray mixed cat Ziggy disappeared in 2011 as a one-year-old kitten, leaving owner Ruth Orme devastated.
After initial searches proved fruitless, Orme said they had long since given up hope of seeing her alive again.
But after photos of the cat were posted on Facebook, a vet microchipped it and found it to be its owners.
Orme, from Royston, Hertfordshire, southern England, UK, said: “On Sunday my ex received a phone call from a chip database saying someone had found our cat .
“He went out one day as usual in 2011 and never came back.
“We had him for just under a year, he was an adult.
“We posted flyers all over town, went out night after night shaking food and following sightings, but we were unlucky.
“Apparently some guys had found him in the industrial area of Royston, about a 20 minute walk from where he disappeared.
“He had been there for a few days so he was fed and a video was posted on a Royston Facebook reporting page and a lady from a rescue group picked him up and had his chip scanned. This resulted in the call to us.
“He returned on Monday looking fine with some signs that he had been out for some time.
“He hasn’t changed much at all and we’re obviously in shock, super grateful he’s back home.
“He looks the same and his temper hasn’t changed. He always loves hugs.
Ziggy was around a year old when she was last seen by her owner at her home in 2011.
Ziggy was found by two men just 20 minutes’ walk from where he went missing.
Orme added: “It was a miracle – and it’s like he never left.
“After a few years, I had lost hope,” Orme said.
She acquired a new cat – Freddie – but said she forgot about Ziggy.
“He looks the same and acts the same,” she added.
“We can’t tell if he recognizes us as he has always been such a friendly cat, but he sits on our lap and purrs happily.”
Cat-lady Orme said he seemed healthy and she had no idea where Ziggy had been all this time but she thinks he was living like a stray dog but he was fed by several different households in the area.
“I really hope he settles down,” she said.
“He’s met Freddie before and they don’t seem to worry too much about each other, which is a good thing.”
Produced in association with SWNS.